Adelaide Now 31 december 2005
© Adelaide Now
Hardcourts can't faze Robredo
By DOUG ROBERTSON
31december 2005
SPRITELY Tommy Robredo has no fear of Memorial Drive's hardcourts which puts him out of step with most Spanish clay court specialists.
Talented Tommy - named by his father after The Who's 1960s rock opera of the same name - grew up playing on hardcourts in his home town of Olot before being lured to the Spanish Federation Tennis Centre in Barcelona, 160km to the south, aged 14.
The compact baseliner, the No. 3 seed for the Adelaide International starting on Monday, overcame a shoulder strain then rose to prominence in the second half of this year with wins over Marat Safin, Carlos Moya and Gaston Gaudio.
He joined countrymen Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer and Juan Carlos Ferrero in the world's top-20 but is tracking a top-10 spot.
He said Spaniards were practising more on hard courts.
"As Spanish players we have a lot of talent and before we didn't need to play on hardcourts, just playing on clay we could be top-1 or top-5 on the tour," he said. "Right now there's no chance for us to be top-10 without playing on hardcourts.
"In five or 10 years there's going to be a lot of Spaniards playing great on hardcourts, but maybe not on grass."